Chapter Thirty: The Betrayal of Ren Linting

Setting foot on familiar ground, Zhu Lan gazed at the rising outlines of new buildings, feeling nothing at all.

“Boss?” As soon as he stepped out of the car, several people at the entrance froze in shock.

“Xu Fei! It’s been a long time!”

“Boss, you’re back?” Zhu Lan nodded briefly and walked straight inside.

News of Zhu Lan’s return spread across the entire Fantasy District in an instant.

The entire northern suburbs belonged to Fantasy Technology, and so, many secretly referred to this area as the Fantasy District.

There was only one company here—Fantasy Technology. The company occupied an enormous tract of land. It had already been large before, but now it was even larger, as several northern mountains had been granted to Zhu Lan for the next fifty years.

A month had passed since the rescue. Zhu Lan hadn’t suffered any real injuries, but due to the explosion and subsequent pursuit, he had been kept under tight watch in the capital, only now allowed to return. Qin Shi and Wang Sheng weren’t so fortunate—especially Qin Shi, who suffered multiple accidents after being brought back, undergoing resuscitation thirteen times before finally being out of danger. Even now, he was only barely conscious; it would be at least a year or two before he could return.

Zhu Lan had intended to cover the costs, but the state took care of everything without explanation, and Zhu Lan did not ask.

In the vast conference room, Zhu Lan sat at the head of the table, his cold gaze sweeping over those present.

Below him, Lan Tianxin, Yu Dongming, and the others did not dare meet his eyes. Cheng Xue, in particular, was visibly trembling.

Thud, thud, thud—

Zhu Lan’s fingers drummed incessantly on the table, his eyes avoiding everyone.

“Director Luo, report the losses,” Zhu Lan said, finally glancing at Luo Wuyan.

Luo Wuyan stood up, shivering as though under the stare of a snake, unable to look Zhu Lan in the eye.

“B...boss...”

Bang! Zhu Lan slammed his palm on the table. “Is this the result you bring me?”

The launch of the Gene Optimization Serum had gone smoothly, shocking Europe as soon as it hit the market. Priced at over ten thousand euros per dose, the first batch sold out instantly. Demand would only grow, but the production facility was still under construction. The existing supply came from small-batch lab production, and scaling up meant increasing raw material output. However, Zhu Lan had set strict quotas, enforced by state supervision.

Zhu Lan waved his hand. “Enough, this isn’t your fault. The main responsibility is mine. If I hadn’t misjudged someone, this never would have happened.”

“Boss...” Yu Dongming opened his mouth but said nothing further.

“That’s enough. Luo Wuyan, the report.”

“Boss, we lost ten thousand units of the elemental compound. In economic terms, the damage is estimated between half a billion and eight hundred million.”

“Ten thousand?” Zhu Lan asked.

Luo Wuyan nodded.

Zhu Lan sighed helplessly. Ten thousand units of the elemental compound, if distributed, could produce a hundred thousand doses of the serum, though with only half the usual efficacy.

“What’s the official response?” Zhu Lan asked.

“This is a commercial matter. The state will not intervene,” Lan Tianxin reported quickly.

“Damn it. Lock down the company completely,” Zhu Lan ordered. “Yu Dongming, investigate every single person thoroughly. I don’t want this to happen again.”

“Yes!” Yu Dongming replied with a nod.

“Alright, back to work.” Zhu Lan ended the meeting, dismissing everyone.

Standing in the new office building, Zhu Lan looked over the still-under-construction Fantasy Industrial Park, feeling not the slightest joy.

Just six days earlier, Ren Linting—a person Zhu Lan had always trusted—had betrayed him, stealing ten thousand units of the elemental compound and vanishing without a trace.

According to the European branch’s report, Ren Linting never returned home. After the incident, Yu Dongming contacted the authorities, and the investigation revealed that Ren had flown to the United States before disappearing. Though no more corporate connections could be traced, it was clear some powerful American entity had silenced the matter.

This outcome enraged Zhu Lan.

He had made a grave error in judgment, and now ten thousand units of the elemental compound were gone. The sense of loss was profound.

Fortunately, though Zhu Lan had already released the manufacturing process for the compound, he had designed a genetic lock within it. Without unlocking this, each use would consume one unit irreversibly, and reverse engineering was impossible.

“Betrayal, is it? I hope your life is colorful enough to be worth it,” Zhu Lan muttered, a cold smile on his lips as he gazed into the distance.

Betrayal always filled him with fury. Now that Ren Linting had turned on him, Zhu Lan would make sure it became a lifelong memory.

“Not yet time to act. Fine, let you live a little longer.”

During that month in the capital, Zhu Lan had done much thinking.

Fortunately, whether due to information lockdowns or other reasons, news of the gene serum’s popularity in Europe had barely reached China. Only a handful of netizens posted about it, and the posts carried little credibility.

Thus, Zhu Lan’s month in the capital had been relatively peaceful.

Had it not been for the state’s restriction of his communications, Zhu Lan would have learned of Ren Linting’s movements sooner; he still had some control over the company. Ren’s betrayal was also what finally prompted the authorities to release him, but by then it was too late.

“I must change my approach. Is it time to begin?” After the slaughter in the Middle East, Zhu Lan had become more contemplative. He realized he had been too cautious before—he had enough cards to play, yet always avoided walking the path he dreaded most.

He possessed a virus, a trump card powerful enough that, should the worst happen, he could drag the world down with him. And after so many months, Zhu Lan had become capable of materializing significant energy constructs.

Though large-scale manifestations were still out of reach, he could already manage smaller ones. In particular, after the incident with Mark I, he had become familiar with conjuring these energy-based fantasies.

Now, Zhu Lan felt he could create a portable doomsday weapon—the soldier-borne nuke from "Starship Troopers." Moreover, he could now manifest the Mark II armor (the unpainted version from the first "Iron Man" film; the painted one was Mark III).

Sitting down, Zhu Lan waved his hand, and a glass of red wine appeared. He sipped slowly.

“If you want to come in, then come in.”

Creak—

Cheng Xue entered quietly, stopping a short distance away without speaking.

“What is it?” Zhu Lan asked.

Cheng Xue bit her lip. “Boss, you should punish me. I can’t get over this.”

Zhu Lan didn’t turn around, shaking his head. “This isn’t your fault. I misjudged him, that’s all.”

Cheng Xue knew that by “him,” Zhu Lan meant Ren Linting. When Zhu Lan left, he had put her in charge of European affairs, and she blamed herself for the trouble that had resulted.

Zhu Lan understood her guilt. Before leaving Germany, he had voiced his concerns to Lan Tianxin, Luo Wuyan, and the others, assigning Cheng Xue to oversee the European market in his stead.

In truth, Zhu Lan had never fully trusted Ren Linting. Officially, Ren was the lead and Cheng the deputy, but in reality, Cheng was in charge.

Yet, somehow, Ren had deceived Cheng, taking a hundred times the authorized amount. Worse still, Zhu Lan had repeatedly stressed that, without his direct order, the elemental compound must never leave company premises. The state had special protocols for this: any unauthorized removal could result in summary execution by the military guards stationed inside and outside the company.

Afterward, Zhu Lan briefly suspected Cheng Xue, but the investigation cleared her—she had merely been set up by Ren. Zhu Lan then reassigned someone else to Europe and called Cheng back.

Without absolute trust, Cheng could only return to her previous position.

“Boss, I want to know why.”

Zhu Lan laughed coldly. “Why? You’ll understand one day.”

Cheng Xue fell silent. “Boss, the authorities…”

Zhu Lan raised his hand, still not turning around. “You don’t need to concern yourself with that. Just focus on your work.”

“But…”

“No more. Leave,” Zhu Lan said, his tone harder.

Cheng Xue hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, I’ll leave now.”

As her footsteps faded, Zhu Lan let out a helpless, bitter laugh.

“Do you really think I haven’t noticed? The mastermind did a fine job.”

Zhu Lan had always wondered about the real reason for Ren Linting’s betrayal.

The state’s investigation showed his exit records and surveillance footage: Ren had boarded a plane to the United States. But Zhu Lan’s own overseas inquiry revealed that Ren had left the country, then traveled to Hong Kong, and finally disappeared. Not wanting to alert anyone, Zhu Lan dropped his investigation.

Few knew about the gene serum, and the European market had only just opened. It should have been impossible for anything to go wrong so early—yet, something did, and the elemental compound was stolen.

No matter how one looked at it, this shouldn’t have happened; even the most careless person would have checked before removing the compound.

Thus, this was not the work of some American company, but an inside job by someone in China with influence.

Zhu Lan had some evidence for this theory.

First, when in the capital, he had made it clear to the authorities that, should anything happen to the company, he must be informed immediately. He knew the state would suspect everyone after the Middle Eastern explosion, and as a key figure with the serum’s importance, he had agreed to the soft detention.

Yet, after Ren’s defection, he was only told on the second day. The explanation was that certain circumstances caused a delay. But given the state’s efficiency and the company’s significance, such a delay was impossible—unless someone had deliberately covered it up to erase all traces.

Recognizing this, Zhu Lan stopped digging; given his current capabilities, any further investigation would only alert those involved and yield nothing. So, he swallowed the bitter fruit.

ps: I've always been patriotic, though my writing may not be great. Every day, I still read a few novels by others, searching for what suits me. This chapter is, perhaps, influenced by that. Last night, I read several stories where the protagonist, after getting their cheat, is discovered by the state and joins its organization. While I understand the necessity, I dislike that approach, so I wrote this chapter and adjusted my original plot to add in some new elements.